


Braided Into My Life

by Endlessnotebooks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Ficlets, Gen, Peter braids his own hair, Peter can braid hair like a boss, Peter has super long hair, self-indulgent ficlets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 08:45:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16238147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Endlessnotebooks/pseuds/Endlessnotebooks
Summary: Peter hasn't had a proper haircut in years, but he doesn't really mind. He's got the skill to make it look nice, and he likes playing with it anyway.Some ficlets centering around my headcanon of Peter with really long hair.





	1. It Doesn't Always Come Out Well

**Author's Note:**

> Some notes about this AU - May finds out way sooner about Spider-Man, just because it's easier. 
> 
> And when I say Peter has long hair, I mean it goes down his back towards his hips long.

May smiled as Peter got ready for homecoming, pulling his hair up in a fancier braid than he normally did. Whatever had caused it, her nephew took great pride in maintaining and styling his hair. He hadn’t cut it in well over a year, since before Ben died if she wasn’t mistaken, but he also hadn’t really cut it all that frequently before, always agreeing only to a trim.

She smiled as he finished off the end, wrapping it up and pinning it so it went in a small loop just below his normal hairline and up around the small braided bun to form a figure-eight in full around his head.

“You really have gotten good at that.”

Peter smiled at her, a bobby pin sticking out of his mouth. “What can I say? I like playing with my hair.”

Except it had long since gone past playing. No, Peter stopped ‘playing’ with his hair in middle school. He had started small, insisting on taking over the morning braid, but with time he had started doing things that were more and more complex.

Like now.

“Alright…” May smiled, kissing his forehead. She knew there was something he was hiding, something big, but she was going to let it go for now.

For one night, her baby was just that, her child. She was going to see him go to his first school dance with one of his first female crushes (though something told her that didn’t mean he had given up his crush on a certain best friend…).

She smiled as they walked to the car. Things were going well.

*

Peter came home a mess. He had bruises across his face and cuts and his hair was a rats’ nest, barely held together. Something he took great pride in, and it was barely even looking like the work of art it had been earlier that evening.

“What happened?”

He shook his head, slumping at the table. She took a moment to look at what he was wearing – instead of Ben’s old suit, it was a hoodie and leggings that looked oddly familiar.

“You didn’t crash that plane. Please tell me that wasn’t you.”

“I had to. He was going to steal the tech inside and make weapons.”

She put a hand on his face, looking at the ash marks. He was lucky he was alive.

She was lucky he was alive.

“Peter, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to protect you.”

“Protecting me isn’t telling the world. Hiding this isn’t protecting me.” May shook her head. “Come on. Let’s clean you up.”

The first thing she did was take out his hair.


	2. Practiced Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper needs to figure out what to do about her hair for a gala. 
> 
> Peter steps in to help.

Pepper was panicking. She was supposed to get her hair done for the gala tonight, but her usual hairdresser had cancelled, her daughter having gotten sick the night before. That was why she didn’t even hear Peter behind her, clearing his throat.

“You okay, Miss Potts?”

He had oil on his face, but his own hair was tied up in a braided bun. A simple one, but that was better than nothing.

“You know how to braid hair?”

Peter nodded. “What d’you want?”

He walked over to the sink, working the oil off his hands and arms, taking his overshirt he brought for the lab off.

“I need something that can pass for formal.”

Peter nodded, looking up. “You have some small hairties and bobby pins, I’m assuming?”

Pepper nodded, going back towards her and Tony’s bathroom and grabbing what he said he needed. This was her last resort, but she would hope it turned out okay.

*

Halfway through, and Peter was asking if she had a curling iron, and then working with it expertly, barely blinking as he worked her hair up and started coiling and pinning it. He walked in front of her, tucking bits and looking at her from each angle.

“There you go.” He smiled. “I better get back to Mister Stark, though.”

“Kid?”

“Speak of the devil.”

*

Tony smiled as he watched Pepper come in from the gala. He wasn’t supposed to go to this one – it was one Pepper had even told him explicitly not to go to. That likely didn’t bode well for him, but he had decided to take the evening and just enjoy being with Peter and working in the lab.

Peter was asleep now, though, having tired out around midnight, which was already later than the curfew May had established for whenever he stayed at the Compound. He had had over an hour to ruminate on what it could be that Pepper didn’t want to talk about, didn’t want him to have to face at the gala. She always had a reason for keeping him from these events – he was a good draw, and it was big deal to take him out of the scene.

But when she walked in, her heels held in one hand and her hair pinned up in the most lovely style he thought he had ever seen it in. His hand strayed to the side, tracing the circular portion of the braid and looking at the curls nested inside.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” She was smiling. “I might have to ask Peter to do my hair more often.”

“Peter did this?”

Pepper nodded. “Took him about thirty minutes, and he kept up a conversation the whole time. He’s talented.”

Tony nodded. “I’ll say.”

They sat and talked for the evening, and Tony forgot that perhaps Pepper had had a reason for keeping him from the Gala. He had his fiancée with him, his student and pseudo-son was asleep in the other room.

Everything was fine. Screw the world. He’d just let it be okay for tonight.


	3. Sickly Strands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's favorite - Peter is sick. 
> 
> Referenced vomiting, but nothing is actually shown.

Peter had started coughing early Sunday, and by Monday he was feverish and barely holding food down. May had already called Tony to cancel the internship meeting – he had offered to help, but May had dealt with a sick kid before.

Peter’s hair had become slick and oily from sweat, but May didn’t mind. Ever since he was little, there were certain things Peter responded well to when sick, and having someone pull their fingers through his hair was one of them. When he was much younger and he risked getting vomit in his hair if it was down, she used to braid it loosely, taking it out and fixing it different ways just to help him.

It was the only way, when he was sick, to get his body to relax enough to sleep. He wouldn’t get better if he was staying awake.

*

By Tuesday, the fever had been persistent, but the vomiting had stopped. Peter had held down some toast and some chicken soup.

“You okay, baby?”

He shook his head, leaning into the touch. “I feel like crap.”

His voice was hoarse from coughing and vomiting. May felt terrible watching her boy when he was this poorly off and she couldn’t do anything about.

“I know.”

She started playing with his hair. In minutes, he was asleep.

*

May ended up falling asleep on the edge of Peter’s bed that night, and while her back wasn’t thanking her, she couldn’t be happier. She had woken up – her neck aching – in the middle of the night.

But it was worth it, because she could feel it – Peter’s fever broke. He was getting better.

She kissed his forehead before standing, feeling her spine shift as she did so. “I love you, baby.”

Peter mumbled a response in his sleep, shifting. May walked around his bed, pulling the loose bits of his hair together and putting it in a loose braid. He would appreciate it when he woke up in the morning, not having the clumps and strands in his face. It was becoming stringy now, not having been washed in days.

“Good night.”

She went to her own room, falling asleep as her back popped a bit.

*

The next day, Peter was up before her, sitting at the table, his head resting on his arms.

“You’d think with all that sleep you’d be off the walls.”

“Does it count as sleep if your body spends the entire time waging war against itself?”

“I guess not.” May laughed, rubbing a hand in his hair. It came off oily. “I take it you’re going to be showering soon?”

Peter nodded. “I’m gonna have to shampoo it twice…”

“It can take it. You take good care of it.”

“Yeah, but I hate doing it that much.”

“Make sure you use cold water, then.”

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah.” He stood, stretching. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

The other habit Peter had since he was a child – always thanking her (and, at one point, Ben) for taking care of him when he was sick. Even if he was Spider-Man, he was still the sweet and caring boy she had watched grow up.

“I always will.”

When he walked back to the bathroom it struck her that he was starting to get quite a bit taller than her. He grew up a bit more everyday…


	4. Fresh Starts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some old faces return, but there are new ones there to help everyone start a little closer to fresh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try really hard to give everyone an equal representation and voice in this. That doesn't mean there won't be characters that aren't hurt or angry and what apologies or to hash out the events of Civil War, but I'll try to be as even-handed and detached from it as possible. If anyone has a side they'd like to see more of as time goes on, or that they think I'm not representing properly, feel free to drop me a line in the comments or [here at my Tumblr.](https://putmymusiconshuffleidareyou.tumblr.com)

Tony sighed. He didn’t want to admit it, but this was going to be for the best. Like Cap had said before – if they lost, at least this time it would be together. He kept looking over the files. They were a couple minutes away, but he had to wrap this stuff up. If they had an issue with that, then they could deal with it later.

Sighing again, he put his pen to the paper. There was a lot to do – Germany and Romania were still out for reparations, but Germany at least was willing to let it slide with community service both in the United States and in Germany herself, as well as a probationary period. Romania also required a public apology – both for the events in Romania and Germany, as well as the blatant violation of Russian territory – and for the Avengers that were returning to take a course on international relations and the UN provided by a local university. All in all, the others were getting off light, and the two nations most damaged by the Civil War were being remarkably forgiving – thanks in no small part to the work of one Chancellor Merkel.

As part of the good will gestures proposed by the Bulgarian representative to the Accords Council, the returning Avengers would also be handling more local issues until they had the faith of other nations.

There were forms to fill out and file, there were letters to dignitaries that he had to write – things the UN was requiring as a matter of course to ensure there was documentation of the system.

Tony barely blinked as he kept going through the motions.

*

The last thing the Avengers expected to be confronted with upon return was a teenager, much less one that immediately scoffed at Natasha and Wanda and pulled them to the side.

“You have such bad split ends! I would have thought the Black Widow would know hair care.”

“I’ve been a fugitive.”

“And this affects your hair having heat damage how?” The boy was pulling the edge of the hair away, inspecting it. “Do you straighten this or curl it?”

She nodded, a little taken aback there was no fear when he was near her. “Straighten.”

He sighed. “How often?”

“Most days…”

He shook her head. “Come on. You too, Miss Scarlet Witch, ma’am.”

Steve blinked.

For a boy, he had rather long hair, stretching down his back. He had Wanda and Natasha following him as he blundered on about taking care of their hair, and it gave Steve and the others a view of the long braid he had in. There was a core braid with thin ones twisted around it, as well as thin sets that looked like ropes pinned up in small arcs around his hairline.

Then, the three of them were gone.

*

Tony had a surprisingly good conversation with the returning Avengers – his main concerns had been Barton, who he tended to but heads with, and their new guy, but both of them had apparently taken deals to be on house arrest with their family instead of stuck on the run. There were still tensions, and there were still things left unsaid, but for now he would take what he had gotten. 

The group had read through the conditions of their return, and while Steve had some questions and concerns, they managed to keep things civil.

What a contrast from how they had handled the Accords in the first place.

Barnes was still hard to be around, but he was sensible and concise when it came to accepting and understanding the terms of their return. While everyone was being made to take psych evals, he would also be put into a rehabilitation program to help with the triggers and the Winter Soldier memories.

Since the wrap-up of the introductory meeting, they had decided to sit and rehash some of their problems, solving and tackling them one at a time to try and establish something of a base for future relationships.

“So who’s the kid?” Sam pointed at the door. “He kidnapped Nat and Wanda, and we haven’t seen them since.”

Peter, ever with convenient timing, walked in with Nat and Wanda following him.

“Why did we have to keep that stuff on our hair for so long?” Wanda was pulling at her hair, looking at it strangely.

“Because your hair was dry and gross. You need to take better care of it. You don’t need to do it all the time, but once in a while that oil helps!”

Peter’s hair was sleek and the braids were positioned in such a way that they all moved like marionette wires. Natasha and Wanda’s looked a little rough, but Nat looked relaxed for once, and Tony was still too afraid to question it.

“Stark, you found a good one.” Natasha nodded at Peter. “Keep him.”

That was the plan.

 


End file.
